Creek Casts Wary Eye On County Well Plans

April 14, 1985|By Kelly Leon, Staff Writer

COCONUT CREEK — Vice Mayor Ted Thomas said he hopes an appointment to a Broward League of Cities advisory board will help him stop the county from building between four and five water wellfields from Hillsboro Boulevard south to Coconut Creek Parkway.

Thomas has recently been at odds with the League and had considered asking fellow City Council members to withdraw from the League but did not do so at Thursday`s meeting.

Instead, Thomas said he hopes to be appointed to that group`s water advisory board in an attempt to fight the wells.

``It would be stupid of me to advise the Council to step out of the League because the ($700) membership fee goes from October 1984 to October 1985,`` Thomas said.

He had considered asking the city to withdraw from the League because he disagrees with its method of awarding votes to cities based on population, claiming smaller cities such as Coconut Creek do not have enough representation on the League, and he was upset when the nominating committee replaced him as a member of the League`s board of directors.

City Manager Dennis Mele said the city has ``no problem`` with wellfields as long as the city is consulted on their location.

He said the criteria the county uses for installing the wells is that there be no nearby industrial development.

Mele said although the city currently has little industrial development, ``800 acres of land are scheduled for industrial development in the future.``

He said the city is willing to help replenish the county`s water supply if the city has a voice in the location of the wellfields.

``We don`t even need raw water from wells because we buy treated water from the county,`` Mele said.